| “ | Of this kind (Northmen) were the peoples of the upper vales of Anduin: the Beornings, and the Woodmen of Western Mirkwood; and further north and east the Men of the Long Lake and of Dale. | ” |
–The Return of the King, Appendix F | ||
The Vales of Anduin is the vast area in the west of Rhovanion, bordered to the west by the Misty Mountains, to the north by the Grey Mountains, to the east by Mirkwood and to the south by Rohan. The region can be considered divided over two main biomes, the Anduin Hills and the Vales of Anduin, the floodplains of the "Great River", the Anduin.
The area is only sparsely inhabited and most encounters will be between player and animals by day. At night, large numbers of Gundabad Orcs and Wargs spawn, making it a dangerous place for good players at that time.
Three biomes are almost to entirely enclosed by the Vales of Anduin, namely: the Gladden Fields, Lothlórien (a.k.a. The Golden Wood), and the Field of Celebrant. Orcs are known to only not set foot in Lothlórien.
Both hills and vales are dotted with boulders of varying size.
There are only a few secure crossings along the Anduin. The Old Ford and the Ford of Carrock are in the Vales and controlled by the Beornings (planned faction). Cair Andros, Osgiliath, and Pelargir are in Gondor controlled lands, downstream, and these are all contested by Gondor against the onslaught of Mordor.
In the future, Beornings and the Woodmen of Mirkwood are expected to inhabit and control part of this land.
Upon entering this biome, the player earns the achievement "The Great River".
Sub-Biomes[]
Three sub-biomes can be distinguished. Technically, the Anduin Hills are the base biome and the Vales of Anduin is a sub-biome. They are both mentioned to describe specifics.
Vales of Anduin[]
The Vales of Anduin biome covers the floodplains of the Anduin river. Although relatively flat, this biome has a lot of variety.
Anduin Hills[]
The Anduin Hills are a transition biome between the Vales of the Anduin and the surrounding mountains and woods. The hills are quite elevated compared to the lower lying vales and there are only few geographical variations, most of which are determined by the presence of lakes or rivers, cutting deep into the regions surface.
Gladden Fields[]
These swamplands surround the Gladden river and where the Gladden joins the Anduin. The area has a very specific landscape, ecosystem and history. It is therefore covered in this dedicated page: Gladden Fields
Biome Variants[]
As the difference between the two main biomes are quite significant, their variants are listed separately below.
Vales of Anduin[]
The standard biome consists of relatively flat terrain, revealing the origin of these lands. There are however many variants, making the area quite varied overall.
- Flowers - A version of the biome with an abundance of flowers.
- Forest - A more forested version of the biome.
- Light forest - A lightly forested version of the biome.
- Steppe - A very flat version of the biome.
- Barren steppe - A steppe, but with no trees. Structures generate here very commonly.
- Hills - A hillier version of the biome.
- Forest hills - A forested version of the hill variant.
- Dense Oak Forest - Dense forests with many large oak trees. Also huge oaks, measuring 3 m in diameter and reaching up to 30 m, are common here. Patches of podzol cover the forest floor.
- Dead Oak Forest - Lands covered in forests whose glory is passing away. The forest density is comparable to the light forest variant, but there are many stems of dead, leafless trees. This variant is very helpful for acquiring large quantities of wood, as the dead trees provide a lot of easy accessible lumber.
- Oak Shrublands - Forest covered lands with a lower tree density than regular forests, but with a very thick undergrowth of shrubs.
- Aspen forest - A forest dominated with aspen trees.
- Birch forest - A forest dominated with birch trees.
- Beech forest - A forest dominated with beech trees.
- Larch forest - A forest dominated with larch trees.
Anduin Hills[]
The standard biome is rather mountainous. Besides the standard biome, there are 7 forested variants.
- Forest - A more forested version of the biome.
- Light forest - A lightly forested version of the biome.
- Aspen forest - A forest dominated with aspen trees.
- Birch forest - A forest dominated with birch trees.
- Beech forest - A forest dominated with beech trees.
- Larch forest - A forest dominated with larch trees.
- Pine forest - A forest dominated with pine trees.
Structures[]
An old photograph of the vales of Anduin.
There are two structures that spawn in the vales, alongside abandoned structures, which spawn very common here:
- Gundabad Orc camps - Camps for Gundabad Orcs, which spawn randomly throughout the vale. Chieftains and Gundabad Orc Scroungers can be found here.
- Ruined houses - Ruined, rotten or burnt down houses that contain chests, furnaces, and crafting tables.
Mobs[]
The Orcs and Wargs of Gundabad roam these lands.
- Gundabad Orcs - Orcs from Mount Gundabad in the Misty Mountains allied only to themselves.
- Gundabad Orc archers - Gundabad Orcs who use bows and arrows.
- Gundabad Wargs (can be ridden) - Wargs (giant wolves) allied with the Gundabad Orcs.
- Gundabad Orc chieftains - Leaders of the Gundabad Orcs, from whom you can hire all of the above.
- Gundabad Orc Scrounger - Like the chieftains, these can be encountered in camps.
Conquest[]
Vales of Anduin can be conquered by Lothlórien, Woodland Realm, Gundabad, Dol Guldur and Angmar. The conquest rate is 1.0.
Vegetation[]
The region has a rich variety of trees and wildlife. As the Vales have denser tree occurrence and also a higher density of flowering plants, the wildlife in the vales is more abundant.
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The Tolkien Gateway has an article on:
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Vales of Anduin
Anduin Hills •
Gladden Fields •
Vales of Anduin
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